Victorville eyeing northerly expansion

Tuesday

Apr 13, 2010 at 11:41 AMApr 13, 2010 at 11:41 AM

Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • The city has called a special workshop Tuesday night to discuss its planned 32-square-mile expansion to the north — a proposal that's drawn criticism from Oro Grande residents, officials from San Bernardino County and the region's biggest business, TXI cement.

Victorville applied to the Local Agency Formation Commission to expand its sphere of influence in early 2007, as a first step toward annexing tens of thousands of acres into the city's boundaries.

Soon after, Helendale's community services district applied to LAFCO for its first sphere of influence designation, with that proposal significantly overlapping Victorville's.

Though it looked like it could turn to war between the two, Victorville and Helendale were eventually able to draft a map with boundaries both agreed on, with Helendale relinquishing some 28 miles in its proposed sphere to its southerly neighbor.

But then a map drafted by LAFCO staff appeared, reducing the amount of land going to Victorville by nearly two-thirds down to just 11 square miles.

Victorville City Manager Jim Cox said he has two main objections with the map proposed by LAFCO, which he deemed "totally unacceptable."

That map gives Helendale an extra mile to the south approaching Southern California Logistics Airport than what the two had agreed on, which the city fears won't provide an adequate buffer for the airport.

The map also gives Victorville control over Oro Grande but not land that includes TXI Riverside Cement. Representatives from the company and 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt fear that mining operations like TXI could flounder under the city's control.

But without the revenue-generating cement plant, Cox said there isn't the tax base to support providing services to Oro Grande residents.

To read the full story, see Tuesday's Daily Press. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755 or click here.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.